Just Call Me Noah - We had a Flood
Dear Forum Friends
Just call me Noah, we had a flood.
Yesterday I got up and noticed right away, that there was a lack of water pressure. Must be a break in the line, somewhere I thought. Then I went downstairs to
the kitchen to make coffee. The first thing I heard was a strange noise, like a
waterfall, then I stepped into water in the hall. The break was in our house. Quickly I raced to the furnace room, where the main shut-off valve is located. I turned off the water and inspected the damage. The break had occurred at the valve itself.
What to do? First get the water off the floor. It was up to ??deep in places.
I could go and rent a wet and dry vacuum cleaner, but it would take a long time
to get rid of all the water. So I called a company specializing in water extraction. They actually arrived within half an hour and had the water off the floor
in less than an hour. Next comes drying out. They offered fans, which would bring up the price of the service. I declined and paid them right away. It cost $ 140 with tax. Yes you pay tax, even when you have
A misfortune.
The next step was to call a plumber. The first one who has his shop in our neighbourhood could only offer me an appointment sometime next week. I could not be
that long without water. The things we take for granted. Running water, showers
in the morning, flushing toilets all gone with out running water. I went to the
neighbour to get a couple of pails of water. For drinking water we have five gallon jugs, so that was OK. Then I called a plumber at the other side of town, but
a firm I had dealt with before. They offered to come the next day.
Now I set up two fans that we have, in order to dry out all areas and not develop mould spots. After that I inspected the damaged pipe. I determined that a repair could only be effected, if the main waterline to the house from the supplier
would be shut off. Consequently I arranged for this to be done.
Today the plumber came around noon. I had told the secretary the day before by
actually going there and explaining what would be needed for the repair. I told
her, please make sure that he has two ??Copper Shut off Valves on the truck as well as pipe and fittings. When he arrived, he looked at the job and then declared he had to go to get the parts. Exasperated I inquired had he not got the
message about the valves. He said no and she did not know what material we had
in the house copper or plastic. Anyway he went away and came back about ?hour later. Then he did a very nice job, and prepared the bill. And guess what he charged his time out at 2 hours, which included the needless hunting for parts, that
he bought at a wholesale house for plumbers on our side of town. Should I argue
. It would have been useless. Tradesmen charge from the time the truck leaves the workshop because the travel time has to be accounted for too. At a bill of $ 205 Dollars. I still got off cheap. If he had to wait for the main line to be shut off it would have been more yet. And again the Government held out their hand
for the tax.
At last I could call the waterworks to turn the water on again. Would you believe it, the man came within ten minutes, turned the water on and came to the door
to see if everything was now alright. When asked for the bill he simply said, we
do not charge for this service. Now wasn抰 that nice. Tomorrow the waterworks will receive one dozen donuts from Mary and me. So ends the story of the flood.
All is well, that ends well, but I nearly had a fit when it started.
Wishing you all well, Uncle Ben
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